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Thursday, April 8, 2010

A vote for garden centers

I don't have a photo of any Early Girl or Boy tomato seedlings to show you and that's on purpose. I put up these creamy white daffodils instead for a little springtime eye candy. My colleague Tony Wood, whose insightful weather stories you've been reading in the Inquirer for many years, and I collaborated on the story in today's paper about the wacky spring we're having - record high temperatures that have accelerated the normal spring bloom cycle by about 10 days to two weeks. There's even variation within the region. Indeed, from one side of the street to the other. So while Tony's daffodils are already spent, half of mine are just blooming and the other half are still tightly budded. But it's the tomatoes I'm concerned about. During my reporting yesterday I called the Home Depot on Columbus Boulevard in South Philly. The employee in the lawn and garden center (who hung up when I asked his name) said yes, he's selling tomato seedlings and yes, they're selling briskly. Don't you think it's a little early to put tomatoes in the ground? I asked. Not at all, he replied, and I quote: "Most of the plants I have won't be bothered by frost. I doubt very much we'll have a frost anyway." Over at Waterloo Gardens in Devon, greenhouse manager Ray Weston said a lot of customers are asking for tomato and pepper starts. "I won't sell them. It's too early," he said, although he ackowledged that when the boxes start selling them so early, it puts pressure on garden centers to do the same. Ray says he is selling appropriately-timed cool-weather crop seedlings (lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, etc) and geraniums, although he's warning people that geraniums will be fine in containers but at risk if they're put in the ground so soon. Yet another reason not buy plants at the box stores. My money's on the garden centers. Literally. 
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About Virginia A. Smith @ Flower Show
Ginny Smith, a Philadelphia native, joined the Inquirer at 1985. After stints as both reporter and editor in the city and suburbs, she’s been happily writing – and learning - about gardening full time since 2006. She’s won two silver medals of achievement from the national Garden Writers Association and in 2011, Bartram’s Garden honored her with its Green Exemplar award for her stories about “the region’s deeply rooted horticultural history, cultural attractions and bountiful gardens.” She plays in her own – mostly - bountiful garden in East Falls.
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